Choquequirao Trek Day 2

Second stage: Santa Rosa Alta - Choquequirao Archaeological Site
Length: 8 km
Duration: 5 hours
Difference in elevation: approx. 930 m (ascent: 845m // descent: 85m)

From Santa Rosa Camp we had to climb 723m to reach Marampata (2913 masl)

On top of Marampata lays a very small cottage. People who live here have to carry everything they need up the steep mountain trail.

Our first glance at the sister-town of Machu Picchu: Choquequirao. Archaeologists believe that the whole mountain side was covered up by the ancient Inca village. At the moment only 30% of the whole infrastructure is excavated.

Parts of the ancient terraces for agricultural purpose.

Once a big empire, many structures of the Inca were destroyed by the Spaniards in the 16th century.

According to historians, Choquequirao was the last bastion of 'Manco Inca Yupanqui' who fled Cusco in 1535.

After a 4 hours walk, the view on those ancient ruins made up for the long journey we had to take into account.

People from the village Marampata can only rely on their mules for transportation.

At the moment, the only way to get here is a difficult 2 days hike. Peruvian government plans to build a cable car, which would make this extraordinary site accessible in less than 20 minutes.

From Marampata it was a 4 km walk up to Choquequirao (3035m).

First we entered through the beautiful terraces.

The view from above.

A clear blue sky made our experience even more special. The only annoying thing were the many flies, mosquitos and tiny bugs that constantly bit us throughout the whole trekking tour.

Enjoying the view on the 1500m lower Apurimac Canyon.

The main part of the Incan Site with a view on the hilltop platform.

We met less than 10 other tourists on the site and even fewer on our trek.

The structure continues on the other side of the mountain with an enormous amount of terraces ('Llama Terraces')

The Incas built an incredible water channel system throughout the whole village.

A little greeting from Peru :)

The best view on the valley from one of the 12 sectors. The whole complex can be compared to the sister-village Machu Picchu (same architecture, same economical importance, ...) but is less known among the tourists because it isn't easily accessible via train.

After visiting the ruins, we walked back to our camp site at the foot of the Archaeological Site (2950m)